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Welcome to form now. I'm Tim Gray, president of the Augusta Institute, and today I'm going to continue our ongoing Bible study on the gospel of Matthew. Dr. Michael Barber is not going to be joining me today, but I'm going to be flying solo. We have a bit of COVID going around at the Augusta Institute, so all of our staff are staying at home right now. So I want Michael to stay safe. So just pray for our AI staff that everybody can be safe and healed up quickly those who are sick. But I want to continue our Bible study, so open up to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 17, verse 14 is where we left off. So Matthew chapter 17. And we'll pick up in verse 14 what just happened previously, which Dr. Barber and I talked about, was the scene of Jesus going up on the mountain with Matthew in Matthew's Gospel, going up on the mountain with Peter, James and John for the transfiguration. And of course, we know that that traditionally is Mount Tabor up in Galilee, a beautiful mountain. And I love to go up there and. And I find it to be a very prayerful, contemplative place. And when Jesus comes down the mountain, down to the village, there's a bit of chaos going on down in the village. And there's a man who has a son who's possessed by demons, and the demons throw him around and he has these seizures. And the disciples are trying to cast out the demon, but they can't do it. And so it's kind of a bit chaotic and a bit of a circus. And it's interesting because one of the things that Michael and I talked about last time is how when Jesus was up on the mountain, Mount Tabor, when he's up on that mountain at the transfiguration, everything that happens up there is almost a replay of Moses on Mount Sinai. And you have the cloud that comes down, you have the glory, you have all these different allusions and echoes to Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:24. That's found in the transfiguration scene. But what's interesting is that when Moses starts to come down the mountain after he gets the Ten Commandments, Joshua says there's something going on at camp. The camp is, you know, disrupted. And he thinks there's a battle and there's a war. Moses says, it's not a battle, it's not a war. They're having a big party and they're worshiping the golden calf, and Moses has to deal with them worshiping idols. And so when Jesus comes down the mountain with Peter, James And John, just like Moses coming down Mount Sinai with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu. So they each have their three people. They come down and what you find is actually Moses at that point isn't coming down with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu. He's coming down with Joshua. So let me correct that. That's earlier time he comes down the mountain. But that time in Exodus 32, Moses comes down with Joshua. And just as the Israelite camp is in chaos and you have the worship of the golden calf, Jesus comes down and there's chaos and they can't deal with this demon possessed boy. And so Jesus says, you know, what a faithless generation and how long am I to be with you? And so we'll pick up there. And Jesus upbraids them for their, their little faith, right? And even his disciples are exercising very little faith. And that's disheartening to Jesus and a bit frustrating. And then Jesus is going to rebuke the demon. He'll leave the young man, and then the disciples come to him and they said privately, why could we not exorcise this demon, right? Why could we not cast it out? And he said to them, because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. So their inability to face the demons is because their lack of faith, right? And I think about that in the Church today. Why is the Church struggling so much? Because we lack supernatural faith. We have little faith in the church. And our little dinky faith means that we get dinky results and we have to have the courage. And that's what it takes, the courage to trust God, the courage to believe, and that he is going to act and step in, even if we're against all odds and not be super cautious and calculating and careful, in other words, to think and calculate in human terms rather than trust God in divine terms, right? And so I think too many of us in the church are like the disciples, believers of Jesus, maybe even some who are apostles, but ineffectual because their faith is so small right? Now after that, Jesus foretells his death and resurrection and there's just no response from the disciples. They just, they can't process that. And then we go on to an interesting story about the temple tax. So let me read what sets up. And when they came to Capharnaum, the collectors of the temple tax come to Peter and they say, does Your rabbi pay the tax or not? Which is a strange question. Jesus is an upright Jew, so why would they? Ask them, does your rabbi pay the temple tax? Well, historically, what's going on is this. There was a debate in the first century. The Essenes, very conservative Jews, said the temple tax is to be paid by every Jewish man once in their life. Once in their life. But the Pharisees, and especially the priests were saying, no, no, no, no, no. That's a misreading of the book of Exodus. You actually have to pay every year. Wow, that's a huge difference. Do you pay the temple tax once in your life or do you have to pay it annually? And there was a great debate going on at that time, and many out of zeal and nationalism for the temple, they wanted people to pay the temple tax every year so they can keep building this massive temple and complete the temple project. Because a lot of zealous Jews, zealots and Pharisees believed that once they completed the temple, God would have to act for Israel and he would have to vanquish their enemies, the Romans. And so it was kind of a religious and nationalistic zeal to pay the tax. So they actually, and I think the correct interpretation of the law was the one that the Essenes had, that you only had to pay the tax once in your lifetime. So this is exactly the kind of historical question we expect Jesus to be asked. So they go up to Peter and notice that they're recognizing Peter to be an authority, that he represents Jesus in some important way. So, you know, this is in Matthew, chapter 17. And of course, we know that Peter was named Rock Peter. He was given the keys of the kingdom, which meant he was to be the prime minister, the right hand man to Jesus as king. So we see that these Pharisees here are recognizing Peter's authority and that he has a key authority under Jesus. So Peter says, oh, yeah, yeah, Jesus is. He answers for Jesus, oh, yeah, Jesus is going to pay that. Yep. And what's interesting is that when Peter comes back into the house, he's probably thinking, oh, gosh, I just put Jesus on the hook for this. How am I going to tell Jesus that I've just committed him to paying the tax? So as Peter's pondering that, he goes into the house and then we're told before Peter can speak, which is quite something because he usually speaks it pretty quickly. Before Peter could get a word in edgewise, Jesus asks him a question. And he says, simon Peter, whom do people collect? Whom do the kings of the world collect taxes and tolls and tribute from their sons. Who? Or from others. And Peter responds, others. Right. In other words, kings don't ask tribute and taxes from their sons. And so here's an interesting truth which is maybe hard for us to believe because the IRS taxes everybody. Whether you're president or not, doesn't matter what your office is. Everybody has to pay tribute to the IRS and pay their taxes. But in the ancient world, kings and all of the royal family did not have to pay tax because tax was seen as tribute where you submitted to the kingship of another. And so sons don't have to pay taxes because they're going to be kings. They're of the royal lineage. If you're of the royal lineage, you don't pay taxes. And so Jesus is saying, peter, do those of the royal lineage pay taxes? No. Doctor, do others? Yes. In other words, Jesus, who Peter professed as the Christ, which means the anointed Messiah, the anointed king. Jesus is of the royal Davidic dynasty and Jesus is the king. He's the lawful king. So should Jesus be paying taxes to anybody? No. So Peter's probably gulping at this point. Yeah, about that. Lord, I just kind of committed you to something. But before you even do that, Jesus says, well, so as not to cause scandal, go to the sea, Peter, and fish, cast a hook and the first fish you catch will have a shekel in its mouth. Pay that for you and for me, because it was a half shekel tax. So pay the shekel for the temple tax for me and for you. That's what Jesus says. And of course it gets silent after that because Peter's going to do that. What I love about that, this story, and I think about it, this comes at the end of Matthew chapter 17. And remember, Peter was given the keys of the kingdom in Matthew chapter 16. And one of the things that Jesus promised to Peter is that Peter, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. In other words, Jesus is saying that whatever Peter binds earth will be bound in heaven. In other words, it will be bound and God will be bound to obey it. So Jesus is now on the hook. He's bound to pay the temple tax because Peter said Jesus would pay it. But because Jesus is king and you know, he shouldn't take money out of his own pocket to pay this tribute because that would be a submission to someone's kingship. That's not legitimate. Jesus says, all right, so it's not to cause scandal. You told him you'd give him a Shekel, you're going to give him a shekel. But it's not coming from my pocket. It's coming from the Sea of Galilee and from the first fish that Peter catches. So it's a beautiful way in which Jesus honors Peter's authority that he just gave him and yet doesn't pay the tax directly from his pocket. So it's a very subtle story and it's one I love if you capture the nuances historically about it. And it's rather striking and interesting how Jesus gets around Peter's kind of blundering into a promise for him to pay when he shouldn't be. So that's the key to understanding what's going on there. It's all about Jesus kingship. And this is by the way, why the church doesn't pay taxes. It's the firm belief since the Middle Ages and going back to these biblical precedents that Jesus church is part of the Basileu tuteu, the kingdom of God. And as part of the kingdom of God, the church shouldn't have to pay taxes because the church is part of a kingdom that's higher than the kingdoms and powers and principalities of this world. So think about that. When you think about the church not having to pay taxes, it has a theological meaning, I think that is deeper than a lot of people realize. Right. Well, let's look at the next chapter. At least make some progress in this next chapter. It starts off with at that time, who is the greatest? Is the question. So the disciples come to Jesus and said, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Right. And so they're all excited about this idea of Jesus kingdom. So we just had a lesson about how Peter and Jesus shouldn't have to pay taxes because Jesus is the lawful king and Peter in his sense is like a spiritual son and a prime minister of the kingdom. And so that got them all thinking about kingdom and politics. And so it got them all excited. And so they say, who's the greatest in the kingdom? In other words, is it Peter? And then Jesus said, calling to him a child, he put the child in the midst of them and said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So here Jesus is saying, if you want greatness, you've got to have humility. And you have to be childlike, innocent, simple, humble, not selfish, ambitious, self seeking. Right? That's going to be the image. And Jesus puts that child in front of them. And then Jesus goes on and says, whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, well, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and cast into the heart and the depths of the sea. That sounds pretty serious. So Jesus is saying, if someone causes one of these little ones to sin, it would be better for them if they were cast with a millstone around their neck into the depths of the sea. Sounds like Jesus is pretty upset about anybody sinning against children or causing children to sin. My friends, this is why I think it's so important for us to stand up to this gender ideology that's trying to tell kids that they can choose their own gender even when they're age 8, 6, 5. This is child abuse, child abuse, pure and simple. And Jesus warns against it. And you know, anybody who commits pedophilia abuses children. Jesus gives a serious warning. And then he goes on talking about how sin is seriously going to be punished in the end. And so he says, woe to the world for temptations to sin, for it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptations come. Come. And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to go two hands and two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. So what does he mean by entering life with. You know, it's better to enter life with one hand or one foot. That life he's talking about is eternal life in heaven. And the punishment of eternal fire is hell. So Jesus is talking about heaven and hell here. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the fire of hell. Wow. Now, I think Jesus is making an allusion here when he talks about this idea of being dismembered. Losing a hand, losing a foot, you know, losing an eye. That's exactly what happened during the persecution of the Jews, during the time of the Maccabees. You know, Antiochus Epiphanes would torture and dismember the Maccabean martyrs. He would cut off their hands, cut off their tongues. He would do horrible tortures. But yet the seven Maccabean martyrs of this beautiful woman in Second Maccabees, they are all faithful. They refuse to eat idolatrous meat and worship Idols, and they're faithful to God, and yet they get dismembered and tortured for that. And what Jesus is saying to us here is that, you know what? It's better to suffer physical torture and loss than to sin unrepentant, right? Because serious sin leads us to an eternal destiny of fire that we do not want. We do not want. We do not want that. And so Jesus is saying, if we want it in our life, better to have the body suffer and enter into life than to have your body comfortable and enter into the hell and the fires of hell. So let's not make. Let's not be slaves to our body and to comfort because we're made, as Pope Benedict would say, we're made for more than comfort. We're made for greatness. We're made to be faithful to Jesus Christ. And so we want our bodies to submit to our reason and our souls so that we can be spiritual and be faithful daughters and sons of our Father in heaven. Well, thank you all for joining us for this Bible study. We'll pick up again in the midst of chapter 18 in the gospel of Matthew. And I want to give special thanks and invitation to anybody who wants to become a mission partner with us. You, you can join our mission circle, which is just giving $10 or more a month, and you really become part of our team. You really help become co laborers with us in this mission and this mission through form, we're reaching people all over the world, in every continent, and we're reaching over 1.1 million people. 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